International Teacher Education Conference 2014 1

International Teacher Education Conference 2014
Organizational Dynamics in Declining US Male College Enrollments
Paul W. O'Brien ª *
ª California State University, Stanislaus
Abstract
Academic journals have witnessed an increasing body of research investigating gender ratios in U.S. college
enrollments. Since the mid-1990s, the popular press has also been publishing articles on the declining
percentage of men in U.S. college enrollment. There is also an international component to this issue: countries
such as Germany, England, and Australia have begun to look more closely at their male college enrollments.
The present study consists of three phases. Phase I consisted of focus groups conducted with male college
students. Phase II, reported in this article, reviews relevant literature. Phase III will incorporate quantitative
survey research methodologies for data collection. This article includes research that reviews what is being done
on college campuses in the United States, specifically California, to address the issue of male college
enrollments in higher education. Research presented includes A.A. degree-granting junior colleges, and M.A.-
granting and Ph.D. granting colleges in Northern and Southern California, and investigates what organizational
interventions are addressing changing college enrollments. Research shows that California public higher
education has yet to become actively involved in this issue.
Keywords.
Introduction
The topic of men’s enrollment stagnation in higher education has gained increasing attention in both the
popular press and academic research journals. Men’s share of total college enrollment has fallen steadily from a
high of 71% to 43% in 2005. The issue has also received attention in countries other than the United States.
Stories in the popular press typically give the national numbers with hyperbole that implies a crisis. Some
examples can be found in The New York Times, such as “Addressing the Gender Gap in College Aspirations”.
The articles; point out that for every 100 woman enrolled there are 77 men; for every 100 women that graduate
only 73 men accomplish that goal. The issue of a racial component has also been written about, such as in the
article. “Colleges Struggle to Help Black Men Stay Enrolled,” which discusses enrollment at Medgar Evers
College (Brooklyn, New York) where 97% of male students are black and the number of male students is only
22% of the total enrolment. These articles and others have created a panic that Mills (2003)calls “backlash
blockbusters.”
Both the popular press and academic journals point a real issue in higher education and society. The
stagnation of male college enrollments will have real consequences for society. If men lack the education and
credentials to assume leadership roles with their female counterparts in society, how will this affect men and
society? What types of careers will be available to men without college degrees or credentials? How will the
new roles of men without college degrees and credentials play out in society? How will mate selection and other
societal functions play out in a world with fewer men obtaining degrees? These trends will bring about
“uncertainties about men’s social position and status”. Social locations will also occur with this societal dynamic
as noted: “This trend could have serious implications for returns in the labor market as well as social outcomes
such as marriage and fertility” (Long, 2004).
A related concern about declining male educational attainment has been reported in the U.S. popular media.
Incidents such as the shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, has “placed boys, their
socialization and questions of power and privilege, and violence at the center of public attention” (Weaver-
Hightower, 2003). Thus, masculinities and more specifically violence has raised the concerns of men’s lives in
society as a concern unlike issues surrounding female college enrollments.
Male-female achievement has also received attention with articles such as “At College, Women are Leaving
Men in the Dust” (NYT, 2006). This article discusses the role of male student efforts in college. Women care
about their grade point average (GPA) but men less so. This notion of academic achievement is also noted in
E-mail address: Pobrien@csustan.edu
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